Synchronization requests to reduce power consumption

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is described. In order to facilitate the communication of synchronization information with another electronic device in a wireless network, the electronic device provides a request for the synchronization information to the other electronic device at a time other than a predefined synchronization transmission time of the other electronic device. Then, the electronic device receives the synchronization information from the other electronic device in response to the request. In this way, the probability that the synchronization information is successfully communicated is increased, and the amount of time the electronic device is in an active mode is reduced, thereby reducing power consumption.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/705,022, entitled “SynchronizationRequests to Reduce Power Consumption,” by Kapil Chhabra and Veerendra M.Boodannavar, Attorney docket number APL-P17311USP1, filed on Sep. 24,2012, the contents of which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The described embodiments relate to techniques for synchronizing clocksin electronic devices in a wireless network.

2. Related Art

Many modern electronic devices include a networking subsystem that isused to wirelessly communicate with other electronic devices. Forexample, these electronic devices can include a networking subsystemwith a cellular network interface (UMTS, LTE, etc.), a wireless localarea network interface (e.g., a wireless network such as described inthe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11standard or Bluetooth™ from the Bluetooth Special Interests Group ofKirkland, Wash.), and/or another type of wireless interface. In order toreduce power consumption when there is no information being wirelesslycommunicated, these electronic devices often transition the networkingsubsystem to a standby mode.

However, if the networking subsystem in an electronic device is instandby mode for too long, the clock in the electronic device may loseits synchronization with the clock in another electronic device in awireless network.

As a consequence, the electronic device may routinely re-synchronize itsclock with the clock in the other electronic device.

For example, an electronic device that communicates with an access pointin a wireless network using a communication protocol that is compatiblewith an IEEE 802.11 standard (which is sometimes referred to as ‘Wi-Fi’)may wake up its radio periodically to receive a beacon frame withsynchronization information (such as a timestamp) at beacon transmissiontimes. After receiving the beacon, the Wi-Fi radio in the electronicdevice may use the synchronization information to synchronize the radioclock. In addition, the Wi-Fi radio may check the Traffic Indication Map(TIM) element for data for the electronic device that is buffered at theaccess point.

In practice, it can be difficult to synchronize electronic devices inthe wireless network in this way. In particular, in busy environments,the probability of not receiving the beacon is high. As a consequence,the Wi-Fi radio in the electronic device may stay in an active modelonger while waiting for the beacon, which may not arrive due tointerference. Moreover, if the Wi-Fi radios in multiple electronicdevices wake up to receive the beacon at a beacon transmission time andthe beacon indicates there is buffered data for these electronicdevices, the electronic devices may poll the access point for thebuffered data at the same time, thereby contending with each other foraccess-point resources.

Furthermore, because of the risk of losing synchronization with theaccess point and waking up the Wi-Fi radio at the wrong time if theelectronic device is in standby mode too often or if it stays in standbymode too long, the electronic device may wake up the Wi-Fi radiofrequently.

Therefore, the existing synchronization technique in wireless networksmay result in the electronic device staying in the active mode moreoften. This increases the power consumption and reduces the operatingtime of the electronic device, which can frustrate users and degrade theuser experience.

SUMMARY

The described embodiments include an electronic device. This electronicdevice includes: an antenna; an interface circuit, coupled to theantenna, that communicates with another electronic device using aconnection in a wireless network; a process or coupled to the interfacecircuit; and memory that stores a program module that is executed by theprocessor. The program module facilitates receipt of synchronizationinformation from another electronic device. In particular, the programmodule includes: instructions for providing a request for thesynchronization information to the other electronic device at a timeother than a predefined synchronization transmission time of the otherelectronic device; and instructions for receiving the synchronizationinformation from the other electronic device in response to the request.

In some embodiments, the program module includes instructions forsynchronizing a clock in the electronic device based on thesynchronization information. Additionally, the program module mayinclude: instructions for providing a second request for a pendingtraffic summary for the electronic device to the other electronicdevice; and instructions for receiving the pending traffic summary fromthe other electronic device. Note that the second request may beincluded in the request.

Moreover, the other electronic device may include an access point in thewireless network.

Furthermore, the request may be compatible with an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.

Additionally, the predefined synchronization transmission time mayinclude a target beacon transmission time.

Another embodiment provides a computer-program product for use with theelectronic device. This computer-program product includes instructionsfor at least some of the operations performed by the electronic device.

Another embodiment provides a method for receipt of the synchronizationinformation from the other electronic device in the wireless network,which may be performed by the electronic device. During the method, theelectronic device may perform at least some of the operations describedabove.

Another embodiment provides the other electronic device. This otherelectronic device includes: an antenna; an interface circuit, coupled tothe antenna, that communicates with the electronic device using theconnection in the wireless network; a processor coupled to the interfacecircuit; and memory that stores a program module that is executed by theprocessor. The program module facilitates providing the synchronizationinformation to the electronic device. In particular, program moduleincludes: instructions for: receiving the request for thesynchronization information from the electronic device at the time otherthan the predefined synchronization transmission time of the otherelectronic device; and providing the synchronization information to theelectronic device in response to the request.

In some embodiments, the program module further includes instructionsfor providing the synchronization information to the electronic device asecond time in response to the request. Additionally, the program modulemay include: instructions for receiving the second request for thepending traffic summary for the electronic device from the electronicdevice; and instructions for providing the pending traffic summary tothe electronic device. This second request may be included in therequest.

Moreover, the request may be compatible with an Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.

Furthermore, the predefined synchronization transmission time mayinclude the target beacon transmission time.

Another embodiment provides a second computer-program product for usewith the other electronic device. This second computer-program productincludes instructions for at least some of the operations performed bythe other electronic device.

Another embodiment provides a second method for providing thesynchronization information to the electronic device in the wirelessnetwork, which may be performed by the other electronic device. Duringthe second method, the other electronic device may perform at least someof the operations described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating electronic devices wirelesslycommunicating in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for receipt ofsynchronization information from one of the electronic devices in FIG. 1in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing thesynchronization information to another of the electronic devices of FIG.1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating communication between the electronicdevices of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating one of the electronic devices ofFIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Note that like reference numerals refer to corresponding partsthroughout the drawings. Moreover, multiple instances of the same partare designated by a common prefix separated from an instance number by adash.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to facilitate the communication of synchronization informationbetween an electronic device (such as a smartphone) and anotherelectronic device (such as an access point) in a wireless network, theelectronic device provides a request for the synchronization informationto the other electronic device at a time other than a predefinedsynchronization transmission time of the other electronic device. Then,the electronic device receives the synchronization information from theother electronic device in response to the request. In this way, theprobability that the synchronization information is successfullycommunicated is increased, and the amount of time the electronic deviceis in an active mode is reduced, thereby reducing power consumption.

For example, the request and the synchronization information may beconveyed in packets that are transmitted and received by radios in theelectronic devices in accordance with a communication protocol, such asan Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11standard, Bluetooth™ (from the Bluetooth Special Interests Group ofKirkland, Wash.), and/or another type of wireless interface. In thediscussion that follows, IEEE 802.11(such as Wi-Fi) is used as anillustrative example. Thus, the predefined synchronization transmissiontime may include a target beacon transmission time.

The communication between the electronic devices is shown in FIG. 1,which presents a block diagram illustrating electronic devices 110 and112 wirelessly communicating. In particular, these electronic devicesmay wirelessly communicate while: discovering one another by scanningwireless channels, transmitting and receiving advertising frames onwireless channels, establishing connections (for example, bytransmitting connect requests), and/or transmitting and receivingpackets (which may include the request and/or the synchronizationinformation as payloads).

As described further below with reference to FIG. 5, electronic devices110 and 112 may include subsystems, such as a networking subsystem, amemory subsystem and a processor subsystem. In addition, electronicdevices 110 and 112 may include radios 114 in the networking subsystems.More generally, electronic devices 110 and 112 can include (or can beincluded within) any electronic devices with the networking subsystemsthat enable electronic devices 110 and 112 to wirelessly communicatewith another electronic device. This can comprise transmittingadvertising frames on wireless channels to enable electronic devices tomake initial contact, followed by exchanging subsequent data/managementframes (such as connect requests) to establish a connection, configuresecurity options (e.g., IPSEC), transmit and receive packets or framesvia the connection, etc.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, wireless signals 116 (represented by a jaggedline) are transmitted from a radio 114-1 in electronic device 110. Thesewireless signals 116 are received by radio 114-2 in electronic device112.

In the described embodiments, processing a packet or frame in either ofelectronic devices 110 and 112 includes: receiving wireless signals 116with the packet or frame; decoding/extracting the packet or frame fromreceived wireless signals 116 to acquire the packet or frame; andprocessing the packet or frame to determine information contained in thepacket or frame (such as the request or the synchronization informationin the payload).

Although we describe the network environment shown in FIG. 1 as anexample, in alternative embodiments, different numbers or types ofelectronic devices may be present. For example, some embodimentscomprise more or fewer electronic devices. As another example, inanother embodiment, different electronic devices are transmitting and/orreceiving packets or frames.

FIG. 2 presents a flow diagram illustrating a method 200 for receipt ofsynchronization information from one of the electronic devices in FIG.1, such as electronic device 110. During operation, the electronicdevice provides a request for the synchronization information (operation210) to another electronic device at a time other than a predefinedsynchronization transmission time of the other electronic device. Inresponse to the request, the electronic device receives thesynchronization information (operation 214) from the other electronicdevice.

Additionally, the electronic device may optionally provide a secondrequest for a pending traffic summary (operation 212) for the electronicdevice to the other electronic device. In response to the optionalsecond request, the electronic device may receive the pending trafficsummary (operation 216) from the other electronic device. Note that thesecond request may be included in the request. Therefore, as describedfurther below with reference to FIG. 4, in some embodiments operations210 and 212 and/or operations 214 and 216 may be combined (for example,the second request may be included in the same packet as the requestand/or the pending traffic summary may be include in the same packet asthe synchronization information).

In some embodiments, the electronic device optionally synchronizes aclock (operation 218) in the electronic device based on thesynchronization information.

FIG. 3 presents a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing thesynchronization information to another of the electronic devices of FIG.1, such as electronic device 112. During operation, the other electronicdevice receives the request for the synchronization information(operation 310) from the electronic device at the time other than thepredefined synchronization transmission time of the other electronicdevice. In response to the request, the other electronic device providesthe synchronization information (operation 314) to the electronicdevice.

In some embodiments, in response to the request, the other electronicdevice optionally provides the synchronization information to theelectronic device a second time (operation 318). This second instance ofthe providing may increase the likelihood that the synchronizationinformation is received by the electronic device.

Additionally, the other electronic device may optionally receive thesecond request for the pending traffic summary (operation 312) for theelectronic device from the electronic device. Then, the other electronicdevice may provide the pending traffic summary (operation 316) to theelectronic device. As noted previously, the second request may beincluded in the request. Therefore, as described further below withreference to FIG. 4, in some embodiments operations 310 and 312 and/oroperations 314 and 316 may be combined.

In these ways, the electronic devices (for example, program modules inthe electronic devices) may facilitate the communication of thesynchronization information between the electronic devices. Byfacilitating this communication at an arbitrary time and in a morereliable fashion, this communication technique may reduce the powerconsumption of electronic device 110 (FIG. 1). In particular, theelectronic device is more likely to receive the synchronizationinformation in response to the request (as opposed to transitioning tothe active mode at the predefined synchronization transmission time ofthe other electronic device). Therefore, the electronic device does notneed to remain in the active mode as long. In addition, because therequests from different electronic devices to the other electronicdevice in the wireless network can be at arbitrary times (for example,random times), competition for scarce network resources can be avoided.By reducing the probability of contention, the amount of time theelectronic device spends in the active mode can also be reduced.

In some embodiments of methods 200 (FIG. 2) and 300, there may beadditional or fewer operations. Moreover, the order of the operationsmay be changed, and/or two or more operations may be combined into asingle operation.

In an exemplary embodiment, the communication technique allows aportable electronic device (i.e., a wireless client) to synchronize itsWi-Fi radio clock with the clock in an access point. Instead oftransitioning to an active mode at the target beacon transmission timeof the access point, software (such as a program module) in the portableelectronic device may transition the portable electronic device to theactive mode and may provide the request at an arbitrary time during thetime interval between target beacon transmission times of the accesspoint. Similarly, in response to the request, software (such as aprogram module) in the portable electronic device may provide thesynchronization information (for example, the beacon) and/or the TrafficIndication Map or TIM (i.e., the pending traffic summary). Note that theTIM may include a buffered traffic indication or summary of buffereddata for the portable electronic device at the access point.

Referring back to FIG. 1, during the communication technique electronicdevice 110 does not wake periodically to receive beacons from electronicdevice 112 (i.e., by passively waiting for a beacon in a broadcastframe). Instead electronic device 110 actively queries electronic device112 for the synchronization information and/or the traffic bufferedindication for electronic device 110 at electronic device 112 (i.e., theaccess point). In particular, electronic device 110 can send requestsfor clock synchronization information and/or buffered traffic indicationin a management frame, which may be either part of an action frame(which is a generalized request frame) or a probe request frame (whenelectronic device 110 is scanning for an access point when roaming),which can also include a piggy-backed TIM request.

In response to the request, electronic device 112 may pass on the clocksynchronization information and/or the buffered unicast trafficindication (which indicates if there is buffered data for electronicdevice 110). For example, the buffered unicast traffic indication may beincluded in a beacon frame or a TIM indication frame. After receivingthis response, if there is no indication of traffic for electronicdevice 110 in the TIM, electronic device 110 can transition the Wi-Firadio to the standby mode. Alternatively, if there is traffic forelectronic device 110, electronic device 110 may synchronize with thetiming synchronization function and collect the buffered data fromelectronic device 112.

The handshaking in the communication technique is illustrated in FIG. 4,which presents a drawing illustrating communication between electronicdevices 110 and 112 in FIG. 1. In particular, the access point mayreceive a management frame that includes a probe request and a TIMrequest, or just a TIM request. In response, the access point mayprovide two response frames for reliability. The first response framemay include the synchronization information and the TIM indication, andthe second response frame may include the TIM indication. In someembodiments, the second response frame also includes the synchronizationinformation.

Because the frames for querying the clock synchronization informationand the responses and/or buffered traffic information from the accesspoint are unicast and positively acknowledged, the likelihood of theelectronic device receiving these frames is significantly improved inbusy environments. Moreover, the communication technique places lessstringent requirements on the electronic device remaining insynchronization with the access point because the electronic device isfree to wake at any time and query the access point. Furthermore,different electronic devices in the wireless network can chose a randomoffset from the target beacon transmission time of the access point toschedule when they wake-up (so that overlap of the active modes of thedifferent wireless clients is reduced or eliminated). Alternatively, theaccess point may manage the wake-up offset for the electronic device,and may provide this information in the response frame. Different valuesof such a random wake-up offset for different electronic devices canensure that the electronic devices will (statistically) wake-upasynchronously with respect to each, thereby reducing or eliminatingcontention for access-point resources.

In this way, the electronic devices can query synchronizationinformation and/or buffered traffic on demand, and they can shut downtheir wireless radios (i.e., transition to standby mode) at other times,thereby significantly reducing power consumption of the electronicdevices.

We now describe embodiments of the electronic device. FIG. 5 presents ablock diagram illustrating an electronic device 500, such as one ofelectronic devices 110 and 112 in FIG. 1. This electronic deviceincludes processing subsystem 510, memory subsystem 512, and networkingsubsystem 514. Processing subsystem 510 includes one or more devicesconfigured to perform computational operations. For example, processingsubsystem 510 can include one or more microprocessors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), microcontrollers,programmable-logic devices, and/or one or more digital signal processors(DSPs).

Memory subsystem 512 includes one or more devices for storing dataand/or instructions for processing subsystem 510 and networkingsubsystem 514. For example, memory subsystem 512 can include dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), and/orother types of memory. In some embodiments, instructions for processingsubsystem 510 in memory subsystem 512 include: one or more programmodules or sets of instructions (such as program module 522), which maybe executed by processing subsystem 510. Note that the one or morecomputer programs may constitute a computer-program mechanism. Moreover,instructions in the various modules in memory subsystem 512 may beimplemented in: a high-level procedural language, an object-orientedprogramming language, and/or in an assembly or machine language.Furthermore, the programming language may be compiled or interpreted,e.g., configurable or configured (which may be used interchangeably inthis discussion), to be executed by processing subsystem 510.

In addition, memory subsystem 512 can include mechanisms for controllingaccess to the memory. In some embodiments, memory subsystem 512 includesa memory hierarchy that comprises one or more caches coupled to a memoryin electronic device 500. In some of these embodiments, one or more ofthe caches is located in processing subsystem 510.

In some embodiments, memory subsystem 512 is coupled to one or morehigh-capacity mass-storage devices (not shown). For example, memorysubsystem 512 can be coupled to a magnetic or optical drive, asolid-state drive, or another type of mass-storage device. In theseembodiments, memory subsystem 512 can be used by electronic device 500as fast-access storage for often-used data, while the mass-storagedevice is used to store less frequently used data.

Networking subsystem 514 includes one or more devices configured tocouple to and communicate on a wired and/or wireless network (i.e., toperform network operations), including: control logic 516, an interfacecircuit 518 and an antenna 520. For example, networking subsystem 514can include a Bluetooth™ networking system, a cellular networking system(e.g., a 5G/4G network such as UMTS, LTE, etc.), a universal serial bus(USB) networking system, a networking system based on the standardsdescribed in IEEE 802.11 (e.g., a Wi-Fi networking system), an Ethernetnetworking system, and/or another networking system.

Networking subsystem 514 includes processors, controllers,radios/antennas, sockets/plugs, and/or other devices used for couplingto, communicating on, and handling data and events for each supportednetworking system. Note that mechanisms used for coupling to,communicating on, and handling data and events on the network for eachnetwork system are sometimes collectively referred to as a ‘networkinterface’ for the network system. Moreover, in some embodiments a‘network’ between the electronic devices does not yet exist. Therefore,electronic device 500 may use the mechanisms in networking subsystem 514for performing simple wireless communication between the electronicdevices, e.g., transmitting advertising frames and/or scanning foradvertising frames transmitted by other electronic devices as describedpreviously.

Within electronic device 500, processing subsystem 510, memory subsystem512, and networking subsystem 514 are coupled together using bus 528.Bus 528 may include an electrical, optical, and/or electro-opticalconnection that the subsystems can use to communicate commands and dataamong one another. Although only one bus 528 is shown for clarity,different embodiments can include a different number or configuration ofelectrical, optical, and/or electro-optical connections between thesubsystems.

In some embodiments, the electronic device includes a display subsystem526 for displaying information on a display, which may include a displaydriver and the display, such as a liquid-crystal display, a multi-touchtouchscreen, etc.

Electronic device 500 can be (or can be included in) any electronicdevice with at least one network interface. For example, electronicdevice 500 can be (or can be included in): a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a server, a media player (such as an MP5 player), anappliance, a subnotebook/netbook, a tablet computer, a smartphone, acellular telephone, a piece of testing equipment, a network appliance, aset-top box, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a toy, a controller, adigital signal processor, a game console, a computational engine withinan appliance, a consumer-electronic device, a portable computing device,a personal organizer, and/or another electronic device.

Although specific components are used to describe electronic device 500,in alternative embodiments, different components and/or subsystems maybe present in electronic device 500. For example, electronic device 500may include one or more additional processing subsystems 510, memorysubsystems 512, networking subsystems 514, and/or display subsystems526. Additionally, one or more of the subsystems may not be present inelectronic device 500. Moreover, in some embodiments, electronic device500 may include one or more additional subsystems that are not shown inFIG. 5. For example, electronic device 500 can include, but is notlimited to, a data collection subsystem, an audio and/or videosubsystem, an alarm subsystem, a media processing subsystem, and/or aninput/output (I/O) subsystem. Also, although separate subsystems areshown in FIG. 5, in some embodiments, some or all of a given subsystemor component can be integrated into one or more of the other subsystemsor component(s) in electronic device 500. For example, in someembodiments program module 522 is included in operating system 524.

Moreover, the circuits and components in electronic device 500 may beimplemented using any combination of analog and/or digital circuitry,including: bipolar, PMOS and/or NMOS gates or transistors. Furthermore,signals in these embodiments may include digital signals that haveapproximately discrete values and/or analog signals that have continuousvalues. Additionally, components and circuits may be single-ended ordifferential, and power supplies may be unipolar or bipolar.

An integrated circuit may implement some or all of the functionality ofnetworking subsystem 514, such as a radio. Moreover, the integratedcircuit may include hardware and/or software mechanisms that are usedfor transmitting wireless signals from electronic device 500 andreceiving signals at electronic device 500 from other electronicdevices. Aside from the mechanisms herein described, radios aregenerally known in the art and hence are not described in detail. Ingeneral, networking subsystem 514 and/or the integrated circuit caninclude any number of radios. Note that the radios in multiple-radioembodiments function in a similar way to the described single-radioembodiments.

In some embodiments, networking subsystem 514 and/or the integratedcircuit include a configuration mechanism (such as one or more hardwareand/or software mechanisms) that configures the radio(s) to transmitand/or receive on a given communication channel (e.g., a given carrierfrequency). For example, in some embodiments, the configurationmechanism can be used to switch the radio from monitoring and/ortransmitting on a given communication channel to monitoring and/ortransmitting on a different communication channel. (Note that‘monitoring’ as used herein comprises receiving signals from otherelectronic devices and possibly performing one or more processingoperations on the received signals, e.g., determining if the receivedsignal comprises an advertising frame, etc.)

While a communication protocol compatible with the IEEE 802.11 standardwas used as an illustrative example, the described embodiments of thecommunication techniques may be used in a variety of network interfaces.Furthermore, while some of the operations in the preceding embodimentswere implemented in hardware or software, in general the operations inthe preceding embodiments can be implemented in a wide variety ofconfigurations and architectures. Therefore, some or all of theoperations in the preceding embodiments may be performed in hardware, insoftware or both. For example, program module 522 can be implemented ina file layer in an access point (such as electronic device 112 inFIG. 1) or in firmware in a wireless client (such as electronic device110 in FIG. 1). Alternatively or additionally, at least a portion of thecommunication technique may be implemented in a physical layer in theaccess point and/or the wireless client.

In the preceding description, we refer to ‘some embodiments.’ Note that‘some embodiments’ describes a subset of all of the possibleembodiments, but does not always specify the same subset of embodiments.

The foregoing description is intended to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the disclosure, and is provided in the contextof a particular application and its requirements. Moreover, theforegoing descriptions of embodiments of the present disclosure havebeen presented for purposes of illustration and description only. Theyare not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure tothe forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations willbe apparent to practitioners skilled in the art, and the generalprinciples defined herein may be applied to other embodiments andapplications without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. Additionally, the discussion of the preceding embodiments isnot intended to limit the present disclosure. Thus, the presentdisclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, butis to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles andfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: an antenna; aninterface circuit, coupled to the antenna, configured to communicatewith another electronic device using a connection in the wirelessnetwork; a processor; and memory, wherein the memory stores a programmodule, and wherein the program module is configured to be executed bythe processor to receive synchronization information from anotherelectronic device in the wireless network, the program module including:instructions for providing a request for the synchronization informationto the other electronic device at a time other than a predefinedsynchronization transmission time of the other electronic device; andinstructions for receiving the synchronization information from theother electronic device in response to the request.
 2. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the program module further includesinstructions for synchronizing a clock in the electronic device based onthe synchronization information.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the program module further includes: instructions for providinga second request for a pending traffic summary for the electronic deviceto the other electronic device; and instructions for receiving thepending traffic summary from the other electronic device.
 4. Theelectronic device of claim 3, wherein the second request is included inthe request.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the otherelectronic device includes an access point in the wireless network. 6.The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the request is compatible withan Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11standard.
 7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the predefinedsynchronization transmission time includes a target beacon transmissiontime.
 8. A computer-program product for use in conjunction with anelectronic device, the computer-program product comprising anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium and a computer-programmechanism embedded therein, to facilitate receipt of synchronizationinformation from another electronic device in a wireless network, thecomputer-program mechanism including: instructions for providing arequest for the synchronization information to the other electronicdevice at a time other than a predefined synchronization transmissiontime of the other electronic device using a connection in the wirelessnetwork; and instructions for receiving the synchronization informationfrom the other electronic device in response to the request.
 9. Thecomputer-program product of claim 8, wherein the computer-programmechanism further includes: instructions for providing a second requestfor a pending traffic summary for the electronic device from the otherelectronic device; and instructions for receiving the pending trafficsummary from the other electronic device.
 10. The computer-programproduct of claim 8, wherein the request is compatible with an Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.
 11. Amethod for receipt of synchronization information by an electronicdevice from another electronic device in a wireless network, wherein themethod comprises: providing a request for the synchronizationinformation to the other electronic device at a time other than apredefined synchronization transmission time of the other electronicdevice using a connection in the wireless network; and receiving thesynchronization information from the other electronic device in responseto the request.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method furtherincludes: providing a second request for a pending traffic summary forthe electronic device from the other electronic device; and receivingthe pending traffic summary from the other electronic device.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the request is compatible with an Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.
 14. Anelectronic device, comprising: an antenna; an interface circuit, coupledto the antenna, configured to communicate with another electronic deviceusing a connection in the wireless network; a processor; and memory,wherein the memory stores a program module, and wherein the programmodule is configured to be executed by the processor to providesynchronization information to another electronic device in a wirelessnetwork, the program module including: instructions for receiving arequest for the synchronization information from the other electronicdevice at a time other than a predefined synchronization transmissiontime of the electronic device; and instructions for providing thesynchronization information to the other electronic device in responseto the request.
 15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein theprogram module further includes instructions for providing thesynchronization information to the other electronic device a second timein response to the request.
 16. The electronic device of claim 14,wherein the program module further includes: instructions for receivinga second request for a pending traffic summary for the other electronicdevice from the other electronic device; and instructions for providingthe pending traffic summary to the other electronic device.
 17. Theelectronic device of claim 16, wherein the second request is included inthe request.
 18. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the requestis compatible with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 standard.
 19. The electronic device of claim 14, whereinthe predefined synchronization transmission time includes a targetbeacon transmission time.
 20. A computer-program product for use inconjunction with an electronic device, the computer-program productcomprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and acomputer-program mechanism embedded therein, to facilitate providing ofsynchronization information to another electronic device in a wirelessnetwork, the computer-program mechanism including: instructions forreceiving a request for the synchronization information from the otherelectronic device at a time other than a predefined synchronizationtransmission time of the electronic device using a connection in thewireless network; and instructions for providing the synchronizationinformation to the other electronic device in response to the request.21. The computer-program product of claim 20, wherein thecomputer-program mechanism further includes: instructions for receivinga second request for a pending traffic summary for the other electronicdevice from the other electronic device; and instructions for providingthe pending traffic summary to the other electronic device.
 22. Thecomputer-program product of claim 20, wherein the request is compatiblewith an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11standard.
 23. A method for providing synchronization information from anelectronic device to another electronic device in a wireless network,wherein the method comprises: receiving a request for thesynchronization information from the other electronic device at a timeother than a predefined synchronization transmission time of theelectronic device using a connection in the wireless network; andproviding the synchronization information to the other electronic devicein response to the request.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein themethod further includes: receiving a second request for a pendingtraffic summary for the other electronic device from the otherelectronic device; and providing the pending traffic summary to theother electronic device.
 25. The method of claim 23, wherein the requestis compatible with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 standard.